Itoma naku hito no mayone o itazura ni kakashimetsutsu mo awanu imo kamo

暇なく人の眉根をいたづらに
掻かしめつつも逢はぬ妹かも

Roma-ji: Itoma naku hito no mayone o itazura ni kakashimetsutsu mo awanu imo kamo
English Translation: Ceaselessly, in vain,
you make me scratch my eyebrows,
all to no avail,
itching on and on, and yet,
love, you will not come to me
Meaning: Ceaselessly you make my eyebrows itch, all in vain, and still, my love, you do not come to meet me.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 562

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Four love poems by Ōtomo no Sukune Momoyo, Senior Secretary of the Dazaifu"
Drawing on the belief that itching eyebrows foretell a meeting with one's love, the poet reproaches a woman who keeps his eyebrows itching yet never comes to meet him. Through folk belief he lightly conveys the frustration of hopes disappointed. Placed last of the four, it closes his lament over love in old age on a playful note.
The author, Ōtomo no Momoyo, was an official of the Ōtomo clan who served under Ōtomo no Tabito as Senior Secretary of the Dazaifu.

First line, "Ceaselessly, in vain," means without pause, the constant itching of his brows.
Second line, "you make me scratch my eyebrows," uses hito, "one," to refer to himself: my eyebrows; mayone means eyebrows.
Third line, "all to no avail," means uselessly, lamenting that the omen proves false.
Fourth line, "itching on and on, and yet," uses the causative shime and continuative tsutsu: while making me scratch again and again.
Fifth line, "love, you will not come to me," means she who does not meet me, with the exclamatory kamo.
Author: Ōtomo no Momoyo
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Omowanu o omou to iwaba ōno naru mikasa no mori no kami shi shirasamu
Next Poem: Kurokami ni shirokami majiri oyuru made kakaru koi ni wa imada awanaku ni